Heather I

Skinny Girl has some delicious, and I mean REALLY DELICIOUS Asian recipes that are super healthy. I have made her spring rolls, a shrimp dish made with peppers -- just so good! I know she does Asian Soups in there, too, just haven't tried them. As for being out and about running errands, I now keep almonds in my car, bottled Water, and premixed Protein shakes. I also live in New England, so it's cold in the car all the time now, so not worried about spoiling. Still, it helps when you are out much longer than anticipated to get in some protein and liquids. You need to pack an emergency kit for the car, just in case. Those cheese Wisps (sold at Costco) are delicious and savory. Crunch like a chip, packed with flavor, high in protein, and portable to the car. Great job on the steps!

I echo @Vinasu. I need a much lighter touch now that there is less of me to, ahem, play with? More sensitive, and I love being smaller so we are really cradling each other, and the legs wrapping around is awesome! No longer are they falling apart or using upper thigh muscles. Now I feel like that bad Bond Girl, Xenia Onatopp, who could crush a guy between her thighs (if she chose to go that route. I prefer to use my newfound skills and strength for more loving and fun ideas.) Now if we could get the little cockblockers to go nap at the same time, we might get in some midday nookie! LOL. (Age 3 and 4.)

@@summerset, the foot thing is a combination of having two 9+lb babies back-to-back in 2012 and 2013 and breaking every bone in my foot while pregnant in 2012. I think there was weight-related swelling. Now that we are in the frigid cold winter temperatures and I've dropped lbs, the bulk of my foot has gone down a bit. My wedding rings are falling off, too! Need to get them sized before I lose them. I concur with @@RJrocks -- I hope to have a streamlined closet of only things I love, that are flattering, and I don't have to think about to make look good. I have a friend who is VERY particular about her clothes -- won't buy something unless it's perfect fit, color, match, length, texture, etc. She's not a flashy dresser, but I appreciate her cohesive look and sticking to a budget because she's so fussy. Gone are the days of buying the same schlubby gear in every color it comes in because it's my only option of what fits/looks halfway decent. I want statement pieces now.

I had clothes from 10-22, and it is so much fun to ditch them! It's getting expensive replacing the pajamas and underwear/bras -- those I didn't have all the sizes of, but so much fun to replace my lingerie with pretty things! I actually organized my drawers a bit last night to have it be a lovely experience picking out which frilly bra and panty set I want to wear. Love it! I have pants organized by size in one side, and I rotate the new sizes down to another section so I'm not overwhelmed or discouraged looking at the skinnier stuff. My tops are on another side, and those I will be replacing come spring/summer since I don't have anything smaller to wear. I'm using my old gym pants, but my foot is down half a size. Not buying new shoes until I'm at goal and know where I will end up.

So many wasted years when I was at my youngest, firmest, thinnest, and I thought I was HUGE!!!!! I'd kill to be back there now and realize how hot I was then. Why was I so insecure? I mean, I get it and know why my head screwed me up, but really, what was I thinking? I thought a 12-14 was MASSIVE, and I was in great shape then.

I've had coffee since 5 days post-op. I use the Premier vanilla shake as my creamer -- no sugars! Don't want to risk dumping. Sometimes I use the chocolate for a mocha chino-type drink. I finish my leftover shake after the coffee wakes me up and I've gotten 30 grams of Protein in by early morning, plus jump-started my bathroom trips for the day. My surgeon has no problem with coffee, but the nutritionist gave me the business for drinking it. I went with the surgeon having no problem with it, LOL. Make sure you get in your Pepsid/PPI 2x a day though. Coffee IS acidic, and that gurgling in your stomach may seem like hunger, but it's really your stomach acids churning. I take one with my morning coffee and then about 4 hours later, before lunch.

No regrets whatsoever. Had an easy, quick recovery. I can eat decent amounts with restriction, have had no vomiting or anything like that. My skin and hair have never looked better. No hair loss, and complexion is flawless eating so clean with all this Water. I'm loving going from a 22 to a 16. I have gone down a bra band size, and my booty is shrinking, which I and hubby miss, but I'm at the gym hard now trying to bring it back. I only wish I had known to do the surgery 10 years ago and not wasted some of the best years of my young life being self-conscious and overweight with esteem issues.

YESSS!!!! I just bought a truckload of beautiful new bras and panties from Soma! I feel so sexy and girlie in my new stuff! Big 30% off sale going on now, and Lane Bryant is doing their bra sale, too.

I weigh daily and put in a little note of stressors/feelings in MFP under the daily notes section, but I record weekly on Monday (surgery day) to see the week-over-week changes. It doesn't stress me out. I can clearly see what I'm doing wrong with my food if I gain based on the food tracking and lbs fluctuation. I also now confirmed for myself that I always lose about 4-5 lbs the week after my period, so that's reassuring I'm not goofing up, it's just that lovely time of the month thing that happens.

Oh, and as far as recovery, unless you have a super physical job or the college has dozens of flights of stairs with a huge book bag to lug around, I was out 5 days and was fine -- with a 2 and 3 year-old! Some people have complications, of course, but once the anesthesia was out of my system, by day 2 I was doing great.

I told a mix of close family and friends but stayed mum to the general public. IMO, most WLS patients have so much to lose, it's not apparent we have lost until you hit a decent percentage of your excess weight. Since you are petite, probably 30 lbs. I had lost 15 lbs in 2 weeks pre-op and didn't change a size, but I'm 5'8". You can totally keep it under wraps, and after reading countless stories of insensitive-at-best, horrifically undermining and cruel-at-worst, I'd say nothing! I've had a few people ask how I'm doing it now, but I say the truth. I'm tracking meticulously every blessed morsel that passes my lips, am low carb/high Protein, working with a nutritionist, focusing on my health as my top 5 priority, and periodically check-in on FB at the gym, so people know I'm doing a physical component to this, too. I'm not bothering talking about the surgery, which is a shame, because I think it's a huge blessing in my life. Most people either want to tune out that there's work/changes involved and think you took the easy way out and do nothing to further your health, or they regale you with the brother's wife's aunt's teacher who regained all the weight and died of some freak complication they heard about. Sigh.

Thank you for sharing! Very informative. The drains look the most uncomfortable to me, as a bystander. I didn't know the difference of the flour-de-lis versus regular TT, so good information to have. You already look great, so I bet you'll be tickled pink in about 3-6 months when everything settles down.

I'm only four months out (as of Monday,) but I have no restrictions on anything to eat and am medically cleared to do whatever I want (not being an a** about food, but nothing is off limits.) My tastes really have changed for the better, and it's a relief not to feel compelled to stuff myself. French fries still call out to me, and I have to resist them if I'm in that setting, but hamburger sits like lead in my stomach now. Buns are a gross waste of carbs and not appealing. Wine tastes off to me. Fried food tastes gross. Ice cream gives me diarrhea. I look at everything I eat now with fresh eyes. I have so few calories/protein/carbs to work within the parameters of my program to lose weight, I really weigh if something is worth it to me. Really, the biggest challenge isn't giving up certain favorite foods, but not letting myself get too hungry so I make a bad choice. This is a behavioral pattern that I need to break. I have literally changed my job shift, childcare, and school setting for my children in order to have more control over my diet and health. I know that's not an option for everyone, but for me, I needed to set myself up for success and put my health and sanity back on the priority list. Our home isn't as clean as it used to always be. The laundry isn't always folded. The dishwasher is now often cluttered and needs to be emptied . . . but now I'm working out at the gym 3-4x a week, walking my kids to and from preschool, and trying out new recipes that are healthier, cooking for the week ahead of time so I'm not caught unprepared. My car has emergency Protein shakes in case I'm out running errands later than expected. I keep Crystal Light iced tea mixed in the fridge at all times and challenge myself to have a massive jug of it every day by noon so I'm not peeing at night. I go to bed at 8 p.m. with the kids so I make sure I get in a good 6-8 hours of sleep a night. I'm using my CPAP machine. In the long run, getting off CPAP, BP meds, and the joy I get from donating trash bags of clothes every month far outweighs any food love. I know, pre-op, you can't imagine NOT being controlled totally by food. I was, too. But it IS so much easier after surgery to resist the stuff that will derail you. WLS won't do it all for you, but it's a huge help to implement new changes that stick. I am a "foodie" and love to host, cook, and try new restaurants, but now I really enjoy the healthy options and try them out so I can see if I can replicate them at home later on with new ideas. The bread basket is just bread, not doughy salvation the way it was before, loaded with butter. Pasta sits like lead in my gut, and I really love spiraling my zucchini as spaghetti with turkey meatballs and marinara sauce. I made that for myself for lunch today, the family got it with whole grain pasta. No biggie to substitute veggies for me and still join in the fun. You can eat pizza again. I hate cauliflower, so I don't anticipate ever loving one of the diet-friendly versions made with veggie crust, but I eat the toppings off one and have a bite or two of the crust, and that's very satisfying for me. Also, pizza used to be a binge-type food, eating 3+slices at a whack. Now, it tastes good -- but not as good as it once did. This, to me, is a gift. I used to hate salmon, and now I'm eating it almost every day for lunch. Go figure. You will get new food obsessions, and they will probably be things you never dreamed of liking beforehand. It's okay!

I feel empathy, for sure, but think my changing interests/activity level would prohibit somewhat the relationship progressing if I was out on the market. I'm happily married, and my husband is supportive of my WLS, BUT, whereas before I was exhausted 24/7 and sedentary, now I'm firing on all cylinders to DO things. I don't want to sit on the couch and loaf around. I would like to share activities with him more, but to be fair, he was this way when we got together, so it's not like he's changed; I have. For many years I was a fit-fat person, until I just became a fat-fat person, LOL, who couldn't keep up.

Yes, everyone is different, of course, but I trolled these posts pre-op to see what to expect. I also focused on women with similar height/weight stats to mine, and that was helpful for me. My stats are in the ticker, but I'm closing in on 4 months this coming Monday and hope to be close to -55 lbs lost. I did get a little discouraged when I saw people sleeved after me losing more, but I used that as the kick in the a** I needed to join a gym and clean up sloppy habits creeping in over the holidays. I respond to negative reinforcement I guess? LOL. Anyway, went from a 22 to a 16, complexion is flawless with no carbs/crap in diet, and have a lovely, consistent energy level throughout the day. I totally appreciate the lifestyle for many reasons, but the most important one (for me) is no longer going into a carb coma and needing so much caffeine to get through the day. I hum along on one cup of coffee in the morning and rarely a cup of tea in the late afternoon. One thing I wish people WOULD mention is their restrictions and if they are meeting Protein and Water goals. I healed lovely and, yes, have restriction, but some people are gagging on 2 ounces of food, and I can get in 4-6 ounces no problem. I have always hit my protein goals (100 grams) and water goals (80 ounces.) Best of luck, and get excited! Even slow/low loss is a loss we probably would be THRILLED with if we did it without surgery. It works!

@@jenn1, headed to Pump class and squats/lunges with weights tonight and Spinning Sunday. Bringing the booty back in 2017!

I'm losing my booty, big time. Still have my basic pear shape, but booty is shrinking too fast for my (and hubby's) liking. I'm back to spinning to lift and plump my derriere!

@michigainchic, yes, it IS kind of horrific how little we need to survive and thrive, LOL. One one hand, I truly am eating less/satisfied with much less food and eating healthier, so that's, of course, fabulous. BUT, it's so easy to eat an extra 500 calories in a day! One glass of wine or beer with a snack at night, POOF, 500 calories packed on with a weight gain. There is no more mindless eating for me. I never was this anal tracking my food/drink -- like, down to a bite of my kids' nugget tracking -- but it has given me quite the focus on what do I want to spend my calories budget on. I feel so much better on a high protein/low carb lifestyle though. No more carb comas, dragging my butt around all day spiking with caffeine and carbs and then crashing an hour later. I like the steady energy I have, and the flawless complexion is a nice byproduct of few carbs and cleaner eating.

^^What @@Bufflehead and @@rickm said holds true for me. I'm 3.5 months out, -50 lbs, but have been stalled the past month because calories hit 1100-1200 and carbs crept up to the 50-80 range versus -50. I did zero exercise the first three months due to scheduling issues/childcare, but now am spinning 2-3x a week and implementing some weights, but it's still early in my regimen to see results. I can't believe I'm maintaining at 1100-1200! OMG. I lose consistently at 800 calories. My NUT said the same spiel you got; don't count calories, focus on healthy eating, Protein and Water, etc., which I do, but she did admit my calories are too high for so soon out, cut down to 800 and get carbs back under control. I have always hit protein/water goals and kept eating healthy, but I allowed crackers and cheese back into my diet as Snacks, and that has boosted my calories/fat/carbs up too high. I track religiously in MFP and can see the trends/effects of eating. And according to my metabolic calculator, I should be able to eat 2000 calories to maintain, but 1200=maintenance for me with no exercise. I think it IS overly optimistic, especially since I have very little muscle tone at this point from being obese and then losing muscle post-op. I'm trying to get some back now, but it takes a big effort to gain muscle.

Any updates on if the F was a mistake? Your other grades/scholarship enough to keep going? Anxious for you and hoping for the best!

@@OutsideMatchInside, LOL, I agree with you, but it's like what they say about Alaska's ratio of men to women. The odds are good -- but the goods are odd! LOL. I have several single girlfriends in their 40s and 50s, and it's kind of a freak show out there.

Wow. That is a crushing blow, and I'm so sorry your gutless husband bailed in such a weenie way. I think no explanation is terrible -- so hard to move forward when you have no idea what is going on. I had a boyfriend ghost me after a year of dating, and that was devastating enough. I can't imagine a husband after years of marriage doing it, but I know it happens. I'm very sorry for your loss of a marital partner, but I'm very proud of your weight lost -- over 170 lbs on your own, and dead weight from your spineless ex.

Okay, first, thank you all for the suggestions! I've been researching all of the brands in between Christmas mayhem. The Women in Control pants look lovely on QVC, but I'm not loving the finish/coloring of the jeans -- but now I know where to find slacks -- so thank you for that! Lucky jeans DO look awesome, but there's no store near me. The Lolita line looks promising for my shape (total pear with a booty.) Any tips for preferred cuts for my shape? I'm 5'8" and very bubble butt/heavy thighs -- but then thin from the knee down with a tiny waist. Kim Kardashian-ish, minus the butt implants. I'm not totally disproportionate. Maurice's looks awesome! I have never heard of this store! I'm in the Northeast, so they are not near me (to my knowledge, anyway.) Any preferred style/cut? Do they run true to size? Any good stretch? I'm going to investigate the Vince Camuto, and Hudson and Paige Denim are only available online for me -- no retail outlets. I don't mind buying online once I find something I like and can reorder it, but I hate totally going in blind with no chance to try them on first. I'll check out Chico's, too. That we have stores nearby of. Saga continues!

OMG, what an exciting victory! Congratulations!

I don't have the bottle in front of me, but I just got the generic Biotin at BJs locally and started taking it 6 weeks pre-op. I'm three months post-op and have had zero hair loss. HTH!